Renewable filter unit



1646377 7 1927' E. J. SWEETLAND ET, AL

RENEWABLE FILTER UNIT F iled Nov. 27, 1923 4 heets-sheet 1 @z fm ATTORNEYS 1,646, 77 Oct. 18, 2 E, J; SWEETLAND ET AL 3 RENEWABLE FILTER UNIT 4 SheetsSheet 2 Filed Nov. 2'7, 1923 ATTORNEYS kn w Oct. 18, 1927.

- 1,646,377 E. J. SWEETLAND ET AL RENEWABLE FILTER UNIT Filed Nov. 27, 1923 4-sheets-sheet 3 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS v Oct. 18, 1927.

4 Sheets-Sheet 4 EM; ML fi w.

xg vflx XXXXXXXXXXXX ATTORNEYS Patented a. 1a, 1921.

UNITED STATES 1,646,377 PATENT OFFICE,

ERNEST J. SWEETLAN D, OF HAZLETON, PENNSYLEANIA', AND GEORGE E. GREEN-v HALGH, 0F NEWARK, NEW JERSEY; SAID GREENHALGH ASSIGNOR T0 SAID SWEET- LAND.

RENEWABLE FILTER UNIT.

Application filed November 27, 1928. Seria1.No. 677,844.

This invention relates to a process and apparatus for filtering and more especially to the removal of solid carbon, metal particles, sediment, water and other deleterious matter from the oil used to lubricate machine bearings, etc., by means of a suitable filter.

In theuse of a filter for this and other purposes the solid fparticles gradually accumulate upon the lter in the form of a deposit or cake until they become so thick as to render the filter unfit for further use in filtering the oil until the cake has been removed. It has been customary heretofore, on account of the expense of such filters, to

F remove the filter and clean the same and then replace it in the path of the oil or other fluid. It is, however, difficult to completely remove the cake without injuring the filter fabric, and at best the fabric is never, under \practical working conditions, thoroughly cleaned, with the result that the filter never. operates at maximum efficiency except the first time it is placed in service.

It is, therefore, the purpose of the present 1 invention to provide a cheap, renewable filter unit which can be removed from the path of the oil when it becomes unfitfor further use and replaced by a new unit and to provide suitable means for holding the filter unit in the path of the oil whereby the change of filter units can be quickly and easily made.

Another object is to provide an 'efiicient filter unit for the purpose, which can be cheaply manufactured and therefore economically discarded when it becomes unfit for further use.

Another object of the invention is to provide a filter unit havin' the filter elements thereof enclosed in a sea ed or non-openable casing, that the filter elements cannot normally be removed therefrom without destroying the unit.

Various other objects and advantages will appear as the description of the invention proceeds.

The invention is described and illustrated by way of example. in connection with the lubricating system of an internal combustion engine wherein the deleterious solids are removed from the oil without removing the oil 1, from the engine, and whereby the 011 used in lubricating internal combustion engines may be constantly and permanently freed of the deleterious matter with which it may become contaminated during the operation of the engine, with .the result that the oilis maintained atall times in a substantially clean condition. It will be obvious however, that the principles of the invention are applicable to the filtration ofothe'r liquid or gaseous fluids. In attaining this result, the lubricating oil of the internal combustion engine or other machine i constantly purified without removing it from the circulatory system by causing all or a portion of the oil to pass thru a filter capa le of intercepting the deleterious matter which forms as a depositranged and supported so that its removal and replacement by a new filter can be ac-. complished easily and quickly, and so that it cannot be opened, cleaned or tampered with without destroying the unit, thereby fore-v stalling any ill considered attempts to clean or repair the same which might injure or destroy the efficiency of the units, and it is cheap to make so that it may be discarded without unnecessary expense.

In applying a device of this kind to an automobile "compactness is of prime importance and we have found that the efliciency of new filter'fabric is so much greater than vided for this purpose is so constructed, ar-

that of a fabric which has repeatedly been cleaned that -a great saving in weight and space is effected bysupplying a cheaply constructed filter which can be rejected and replaced by a new one at frequent intervals. In addition to this distinct advantage it is,

obviously a' much cleaner and quicker oper'-.

ation'to remove and replace the replaceable filter unit than it is to clean even themost efficiently constructed cleanable type filter.

Another advantage of substitutln a new filter unit for the oldand of buil ing the unit so as to prevent attempted cleaning. is

ion

that when cleaning is attem ted on the old filters, the filter fabric is liab e to be in ured so that a portion of the oil may flow throu h the filter without having the solid artic es removed therefrom and as this con ition 1s not readily detected by the inexperuenced this incomplete or ineflicient filter unlt may permit injury to the bearings while the car owner is depending upon the filter, by permitting the sediment and solid particles to collect in the oil. By using a sealed filter unit casing however the filter cannot be tampered with after it leaves the factory and perfect operation of the filter is therefore assured.

Referring now to the drawings which i'llustrate the preferred forms of embodiment of our invention applied to filtering of lubricating oil in an internal combustion enine:

g Fig. 1 is a side elevation, more or'less diagrammatic in form, of an internal combustion it flows back to the crank case.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on the line 66' of F1g. 5.

'Fig. 7 is a vertical section of a preferred form of supply pipe coupling.

In the embodiments illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4, the invention is illustrated in connection withan automobile engine shown in Fig. 1, which comprises the cylinder block 5, the crank case 6, exhaust manifold 7, fan 8,

i and radiator 9. In accordance with the common practice, it is assumed that the lubricatingoil for the engine is stored in the bottom of the crank case 6, from which it is drawn by the oil pump 10 and supplied to the bearings and to the devices which free the oil from deleterious matter after which The oil pump 10 is shown as connected on its intake side to the pipe 12, the end of which extends preferably to the lowest point in the crank case, for example, into the depression 13;

and on its outlet side said pump is connected to the pipe 15, from which branch pipes such as 16'lead to the various hearings to be lubricated. Branching from'the pipe 15 is a pipe 18, provided with a T fitting 19',

.to which pipes 20 and 21 are connected.

The pipe 21 is connected to a pipe 23 leading back to the crank case'6, through the safety valve 24, which may be of any simple form.

V Normally, the valve 24 does not permit the oil to pass back to the crank case-through it, but this valve will open if the pressure against which the oil pump 10 is working is abnormally increased on account of exces-. 'sive Viscosity of the oil or due to high speed loaded valve 32, hereinafter described, and

a cock 33. This pipe 31 is connected to the intake end of the filter 35, capable of removing carbon, metal particles, sediment, water and-other'deleterious matter .from the oil. At its outlet end the filter 35 is connected, preferably thru a sight-feed pipe 37 to a pipe 38, leading to a distilling device 40 which is mounted adjacent to and is heated by the exhaust manifold 7. The detail construction of the distillingv device 40 need not be herein described as it forms no part of the present invention, further than to say that it serves to distill out of the lubricating oil the major part of the gasoline, kerosene and other light hydrocarbons, and any water. which may pass through the filter, the distillate escaping through the pipe 41 may be collected in a suitable receptacle or may be allowed to escape to the atmosphere, while the lubricating oil returns to the crank case thru the pipe 42.

Having described the manner. in which the various parts of the lubricating system shown in Fig. 1 are connected and co-operate with one another, the details of the preferred form of embodiment of the filters and the means by which they are removably mounted on the dash 44 of the vehicle will now be described.

Referring to Figures 2, 3 and 4, the casing of the filter is shown as comprising a cylindrical shell 46' preferably although not necessarily made of sheet metal, to the ends of which are permanently attached dished heads 48 and 49. The, ends of the shell 46 are preferably bent outwardly and the flanges thus provided are engaged b rolled or crimped edges of the heads 48 an 49, the

joints thus formed being sealed in a convenient manner as by rolling or brazing or soldering to prevent access to or tampering With the filter elements. and 49 are provided with necks 53 and 54 The members 48' having openings therethru which serve as intake and outlet passages of the filter. Before the upper head 48 is attached to the casing 46, the filter elements or filtering materials, which may be of any desired form, are installed therein. In the particular form of filter shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4, the fili ters or filtering materials are supported upon a foraminous plate 56, which rests on the inside of the dished head 49. This plate 56 supports aplurality of tubular drainage members 58, 59 and 60 which are concentricallyarranged. These drainage members, which may be conveniently formed of foraminous sheet metal, are covered with any suitable filter cloth, such as cotton, canvas, or drill. This fabric may or may not be treated chemically or otherwise to improve its filtering qualities.

\Ve have found, however, that ordinary filter cloth, unless very thlck'and closely woven, does not produce a clear filtrate at the start. and in order to overcome the objection of using thick and expensive fabrics we prefer to use a thin cloth, preferably with considerable nap on itssurface and treat this cloth with a coating of kieselguhr .or finely divided charcoal, or other suitable substances which are insoluble in oil, in order to enhance the filtering qualities of the cloth and thus produce a clear filtrate from the time the filter is first placed in service. It is understood that instead of filter cloth the casing may be packed with any suitable filtering medium, however it is pre ferred. to use the filter shown in the drawings which comprises the filter cloth 62 made of a plurality of pieces, sewed together as indicatedat 63 and then assembled over the drainage members 58, 59 and 60. VVithin the drainage member 58, the filter cloth forms a bag, the bottom 64 of which covers the top of the central portion of the foraminous plate 56; and the ortions of the foraminous plate between t e drainage members 58 and 59 and between the dralnage mem-' bers 59 and 60, are similarly covered by the filter fabric; while the outer edge of the filter fabric is held against the outside of the drainage member 60 by a ring 65 of felt or other suitable material, interposed between.

the fabric and the shell 46. In orderto hold the tubular drainage members 58, 59 and 60 stationary within the filter casing under the influence of vibration to which the filter may be subjected, there is preferably interposed between the'head 48 and the upper' edges of said drainage members, a spacing member, of any sulta-ble kmd, for example,

one made of two pieces 67 and 68 of stamped.

metal of the form shown, slotted and fas-- tened together in the form of a cross. Although a filter of the kind we have shown and described is preferably used with its axis in a vertical position as shown in the drawings, it may. under some conditions be found desirable to mount the filter with its axis horizontal. escape of trapped air when the filter is so mounted, there may be provided within the dished head 49 a tube 69 of the form shown,

appropriately marked so as to indicate t connecting with the outlet through the neck 54 in the'head 49. When'this tube 69 is provided, the outside of the filter casing1 In order to facilitate the 1s at has just been described is constructed with I0 the idea that it will be removed and thrown away after it has been used sufliciently long to become so filled with impurities ex tracted from the oil that its usefulness has been materially lessened, if not entirely destroyed and also with the idea that it cannot be tampered with, cleaned orinjured without necessitating a new filter unit, thereby assuring that only a 100% efficient unit can be used,

As shown in Figs'l to 4, one form of apparatus for supporting the filter may con1 prise a lower bracket 70 and an upper bracket 71 which may be secured to the dash 44 by bolts 73, or may be supported in any.

other suitable manner. The lower bracket 70 supports a removable seat 75 which may be secured in a hole in the bracket by means of a, set screw 76. The seat 75 is provided with a passage therethru which at its lower end communicates with the pipe 38, the end of which is permanently secured to said seat 1n any suitable manner; and at its upper end said passage opens into an enlarged cavity in the seat 75 having therein an annular recess adapted to receive a gasket 78. The end of the neck 54 is adapted to enter the cavity in the top of the seat 75, and the edges of said neck rest on the gasket 78 whereby a tight connection is made between the outlet end of the filter and the seat 75 The upper bracket 71, which is provided with a yoke portion 80 asshown, carries; a sliding feed connection 82, which may be of the form shown and which is provided with an opening 83 with which the pipe 31 is in permanent communication. The bottom of this sliding feed connection 82 is provided with an annular cavity at the top of which is inserted a gasket 84 adapted to be engaged by the upper end of the neck 53 of the filter. The feed connection 82 may be moved vertically in the bracket yoke 80 by means of a screw 85, threaded in the top of the bracket With this arrangement, it will be obvious that the feed 1 connection 82 may be raised and lowered by means ofthe screw 85 for the purpose of permitting, a used filter to be removed and a, new one inserted. By screwing the screw 85 downwardly, after the filter has $12 been inserted between the seat 75 and the sliding feed connection 82, the gaskets 78 and 84 are put under compression and leakage at the outlet and inlet openings of the filter is effectively prevented. The construction and the function of the loaded valve 32 will now be described. This valve, obviously, may be of many forms, one of which is shown in cross section in Fig. 4. As therein shown, this valve com prises a casing having a cavity therein which at one end is threaded as indicated at 90, and at the other end communicates with a passage 31. Communication between the cavity and the passage 31 is controlled by means of a ball valve member 93, which is yieldingly held in the position shown by 0 94 put under compresmeans of a sprin ball 93 and a perforated sion between the plug 96 adapted to be screwed into the threaded portion 90 of the valve casing.

There is also screwed into the threaded portion 90 of the casing a perforated flange I cap 97. with which a gasket 98 cooperates. 1

As hereinbefore stated, this loaded valve 32 is interposed in the pipe 31; and it will-be obvious from Fig. 4 how the ends of the pipe 31 are connected to the said valve. The purpose of the valve 32 is to insure that the path of the oil through the filter will always offer at least a considerable resistance to the flow of the'oil therethru. A new, clean filter inserted in the system may oifer at first comparatively little resistance to the passage of oil therethru, andif the valve 32 or its equivalent were not-employed, it might happen in some cases that the path of oil through the filter would offer so much less resistance to the flow of oil thanthe paths for the flow of oil through the engine bearings, that the pressure of oil supplied to the latter would be insufficient to sufficiently lubricate said bearings. By providing the loaded valve 32, this ossibility is prevented.

In the form of em odiment illustrated in Figs. 5 to 7, the filter unit comprises a pair of rectangular members 100 and 101 preferfably made ofsheet metal fastened'together to form a fluid tight nonopening casing 102 by means of flanges 103 and 104:, by crimping theone over the other, as shown or by brazing, soldering or the like. 7

An inlet opening for thedirty oil is provided at 105, and a flanged outlet opening tube'107, so as to dischar for the filtered oil is shown at 106. The drainage tube 107 for the filter elements 108 rojects into the flanged opening 106 and 1s partially supported thereby as indicated in Fig. 6. The filter elements 108, which are held in spaced relation upon the tube 107, consist of hollow drainage'members 109 covered with a suitable filter fabric and deleterious matter from the oil as it asses thru the casing. The drainage mem- Eers 109 communicate with the drainage e only the purified oil from the casing at e, outlet 106.

To facilitate the assembling of the filter,

the tube 107 is provided with a collar 111,

end of the tube 107.

For attaching the outlet connections to the casing the tube 107 is internally threadconnection 116 against the filter casing.

The hollow bolt 115 is provided with a cross bore 117 so as to discharge the filtered oil A into the connection 116 in any position to which it may be turned.

A sight glass 118 is inserted in the connection 116 which is provided with a suitable opening 119 thru which the glass 118 and the oil flowing therethru may be observed. 'Suitable gaskets 122 are providedas indicated to form a fluid tight seal between the various parts of the connection.

The glass 118 is held in position in the con-' nection 116 by a plug 120 threaded into the connection and a union 121 which screws into the end of the connection and provides communication between the connection and the discharge pipe 38.

The inlet connection. 125 is attached to the casing by means of a hollow bolt 126 which screws into a threaded thimble 127 in the wall of the casing to force the connection 125 into fluid tight engagement with a gasket 128 positioned between the connec-v tion and the wall of the casing. A cross bore 129 in the bolt 126 provides a passage for the oil between the connection 125 and the interior bore of the bolt 126 -in an .position to which the bolt may be turne A nipple 130 screws into the connection 125 at its lower end to rovide a connection with the oil sup-ply pipe 31. This nipple is provided witha loaded valve 132 pressed into the-opening 31*, fro .the su ply pipe by a spring 133. An djustab e screw plug 134 is provided for permitting proper adjustment of the valve, and a hole 135 through the screw ,plug permits the oil to pass freely therethru. The function of casing to be readily inserted into and removed from the circulatory system as it is only, necessary 'to remove the bolts 115 and- 126 to disconnect the connections and to screw them into their respective openings to fasten the connections to the new filter unit. Various other-forms of inlet and outlet connections may be used however and it is not 1 may necessary that the inlet and outlet openings be on opposite sides of the filter as they may be located in the same side of the filter as in position for easy removal and replacement,

a bracket 140 is secured in any convenient position relative to the machine by means of the bolts 141. The ends of the bracket project outward at 142 and are provided with crimped edges 143 to receive and support the flanges 103 and 104 of the'filter casing. To prevent the casing 102 from accidentally sliding out of the holder, bolts 144 are provided which extend from the upper projections 142 to the lower projection 142, and are secured in the projections by the nuts 145.

To remove the filter unit from the machine when it is desired to discard the same the inlet and outlet pipes are disconnected and one of the bolts 144 removed, whereupon the casing may be slid sidewise out of the crimps 143. The-term unit as used in the claims of this specification is intended to include both the filter and easing which are discarded as a unit and it is to be noted that by discarding the entire filter and casing, the sediment collected upon the filter as well as that which h a's settled in the bottom of the casing is entirely removed from the system whereas the discarding of only the filter without the casing as has heretofore been proposed, may remove only the sediment collected upon the filter fabric, and leave the heavier particles which have settled into the bottom of the casin in the circulatory system where they %e stirred up by vibrations of the machine and carried again into the circulation. To forestall attempts to clean the filter or to otherwise tamper with the operation thereof withoutdiscarding the unit, the easing is sealed as heretofore described duringthe process of manufacture so thatit cannot be opened without destroying the same.

By a non-openable filter casing in the specification and claims is meant a filter casing which is permanently closed by some means such as folding and pressing or spmnmg the sheet metal parts together, or soldering,

welding, or the like, so that the casing cannot, conveniently be opened or closed again without destroying it, unless unusual me chanical methods not ordinarily available to the layman are resorted to and so that the filterielements cannot be removed therefrom,

a the particular idea being to assure the unit vious. The oil pump being discarded when it has once served its pur ose. r

T e mode. of operation of the system and the apparatus herein, described w1ll be ob- 10, drawingoil from the crankcase supplies it under pressure to the enginebearings and also to the filters 35 or 102 located in the gap in the. oil line, and to the distilling device 40 rom which the oil, substantially free of eleterious matter, gasoline and other light hydrocarbons and water, flows back to the crank case. Under ordinary circumstances, the filters will not become so filled with impurities as to interfere with their function until the machine has been used for a considerable period of time, for example, in the case of an automobile, until the car has been run several thousand miles. The proper time to remove the filter unit and replace it by a new one can be determined in different ways; for example, by observing in the sight feed pipes 37 or 118, the volume and condition of the oil coming from the filter, by taking a sample of oil from the crank case and observing its condition, or upon an arbitrary basis according to the length of time the filter has been in use or the number of miles which the auto-- mobile has been driven since the filter was inserted. It is a matter of only a few moments work to remove the filter and insert a new one in the manner hereinbefore described, and this removal and insertion can be attended to by any one without a chance of improper assembly. There is thus provided a new method of and means-for constantly removing the deleterious matter, such as carbon, metal particles, water, etc., which tends to accumulate in the lubricating oil of an internal combustion engine, or other machines, without withdrawing the oil from the oil circulatory system of the machine. The term gap as used in the claims to this ter is however claimed in our divisional applic7ation Serial No. 215,972, filed August 27, 192

While we have described and illustrated the embodiments of our invention as applied to an internal combustion engine and enclosed in asheet metalicasing, it is to be understood that the apparatus and process herein described is not limited to such construction and use but may be applied to the filtering of other liquids in various ways,

and that any suitably cheap sealed casing may be used and that modification may be made in the embodiments illustrated without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope "of the appended claims.

What we-claim isz' i 1. In a lubricating system for an automotive engine containing a body of oil exposed to contamination b deleterious solids, means to circulate the oi to the parts to be lubricated, and to a conduit extending outside the engine said conduit having a gap therein normally bridged by a sealed filter unit, and a filter unit for bridging said gap comprising a sealed casing, a filter element in said casing adapted to remove the deleterious solids, said casing being imperforate except for inlet and outlet openings'therein of approximately the size of said conduit, connecting means on said conduit for connecting with said inlet and outlet openings and 00- operating with the walls of said filter casing to form a sealed joint around said openings and quick detachable means for applying said connecting means whereby a clogged filter unit may be quickly removed and a new unit inserted in said gap. 2. The combination with the lubricating system of an automotive internal combustion engine, of a means for collecting and discarding the deleterious matter which normally accumulates in the system which comprises a pump having connection with the bearings of said engine and with an oil conduit extending outside the engine, a gap in said conduit which is normally bridged by a permanently sealed filter unit to maintain continuity of said conduit and a filter unit to bridge said gap comprising a filter element for the collection of impurities from the oil and a filter casing permanently sealed around said element and imperforate except for inlet and outlet openings thereinto of approximately the capacity of said conduit and detachable connecting means for quickly connecting said filter unit in fluid tight connection with said conduit whereby a clogged filter unit may be economically discarded and a new unit inserted. 3. A system for collecting and discarding the deleterious matter which normally accumulates in the'oil circulating system of an internal combustion engine which comprises a pump connected to an oil conduit, a gap in said conduit which is normally bridged by a filter unit to maintain continuity of said conduit,-an d a filter unit to bridge said gap, said filter unit being provided with a filtering means therein and being formed as -a cylindrical casing having its end and side walls permanently sealed together to provide a nonopenable casing with leak tight joints,- said casing being imperforate except at the points of connection with said conduit, and

means .detachably connecting said conduit in fluid tight engagement with said filter unit-{whereby the filter unit may be quickly disconnected for replacement with a new unit.

4. Asystem for collectingand discarding the deleterious matter which commonly accumulates in the oil circulating system of an internal combustion engine which comprises a pump connected to an oil conduit and a gap in said conduit which is normally bridged by a filter unit to maintain continuit of said conduit and a filter to bridge sai gap having the Wall structural parts thereof surrounding the enclosed filtering means permanently sealed to provide a non-openable leak tight casing ca able of withstanding normal automotive lu ricating pressures, said casing being imperforate except at the points of con nection with said conduit and quick detachable means for detachably connecting the perforate part of said caslng in fluid tight engagement to said conduit whereby the filter unit may be quickly detached from said system for replacement with a new unit. 5. 'A system for collecting and discarding the deleterious matter which normally accumulates in the oil circulating system of an internalcombustion engine which comprises a pump connectedto an oil conduit, a gap in said conduit which is normally bridged by a filter unit to maintain continuity of said conduit, and a filterunit to bridge said gap comprising a non-openable and discardable sealed sheet metal filter casing having a means within for the collection and storage of impurities from the oil, inlet and outlet openings in the filter casing of approximatelythe size of said conduit, means for holding said filter unit in place to bridge said gap, connecting means on said conduit for cooperatin with said inlet and outlet openings and t e walls of the filter to form a sealed joint therewith and pressure means for detachably forcing said connectin means without rotation thereof into fluid tight engagement with the Walls of said casing whereby when the filter unit is disconnected it may be discarded as a unit with the collected impurities therein without discarding any portion of the conduits or connecting a means.

In testimony whereof, we have afii'xed our 11 signatures to this specification.

ERNEST J. SWEETLAND. GEORGE H. GREENHALGH. 

